As a detective carried away the high powered AK-47 seized by SEPTA Police from a passenger on a rush hour train this week, DA Seth Williams came out firing.

"I don't care what the NRA says, they can kiss my butt," Williams said. "I don't care. There's no reason for a guy to have a gun like that."

Williams comments came after a judge hiked the bail for suspect Jermal Ponds from $100,000 to $200,000. He said SEPTA police and a brave citizen who spotted Ponds with an AK-47 assault rifle like this, averted a "real major tragedy" from occurring on the city's subway system.

"What is it like G.I. Joe or something. I mean, the whole thing is crazy," added Mayor Michael Nutter.

The DA wanted half a million dollars bail, calling Ponds a danger to the community. Ponds was spotted on a rush hour train at the City Hall station by a subway passenger. He was carrying a bag with the AK-47 and another weapon, plus a loaded 40 round magazine. Minutes later SEPTA police arrested Ponds at the Fairmount station.

"It's just amazing to think of the mayhem, the destruction, the pain and violence that this defendant could have brought," Williams said.

Ponds' attorney Lawrence O'Connor fired back "The district attorney's motion, in our opinion, was simply to further sensationalize this case."

Passengers on SEPTA believe the judge was right to increase Ponds bail. Several cited the recent massacre at a Colorado movie complex by a suspect with an AR-15 military style rifle.

"What if he would have pulled that gun out and starting shooting at everybody," passenger Marvin Ellis said.

"I wouldn't want to see him get out," another added.

Ponds lawyer says he was moving the guns from his girlfriends home to a new apartment and had no intention of using them. He said a "lapse in judgement" caused him to get on the SEPTA subway with the weapons.

Police says Ponds has three prior arrests, but no convictions. Both weapons were legally registered, but Ponds did not have a permit to carry the handgun. Police say he shouldn't have been carrying the AK-47 in the same bag with the loaded 40 round magazine.

What is he charged with? I do not see any crime, unless Philadelphia has made it illegal to transport unloaded guns on public transport.

It is hard to believe that would be more than a civil offense. I do not see how a concealed weapon charge would hold up. How could you transport a firearm to the range, or for repair, or to a new apartment if you could not move it, unloaded, from one place to another?

RUFUS Seth Williams (yes, Rufus is his real name, but he pretend otherwise these days) has been a tool his entire life. Look up his actions at Penn State when he was the leader of black students and because of something like 1600 total votes became the student body president of a 32,000 student campus. His occupation of the telecommunications building in 1988 or 89 - in a bid to shut down all student and university phones to seize control of the campus - made his reputation with the left wingers on the East Coast.

“”””I don't care what the NRA says, they can kiss my butt,” Williams said. “I don't care. There's no reason for a guy to have a gun like that.”

“It's just amazing to think of the mayhem, the destruction, the pain and violence that this defendant could have brought,” Williams said. “”””

Actually, Mr. DA, the mayhem pain and destruction caused, over history, by people in authority who have your lawless authortarian attitude is exactly why The People need guns. And sir, YOU can kiss MY butt.

What is he charged with? I do not see any crime, unless Philadelphia has made it illegal to transport unloaded guns on public transport.

The law in many states prohibits a person from carrying a long gun in a vehicle unless the firearm and ammo are in separate compartments, one of which must be locked. I guess the subway car meets the definition of a vehicle -- at least according to the arresting LEO.

“In Pennsylvania a License To Carry Firearms is only required to conceal a firearm, or to carry a firearm in a motor vehicle. The law is silent on the act of openly carrying a firearm while not in a vehicle making it de-facto legal. It must be noted however that due to 18 Pa.C.S. § 6108 (Carrying firearms on public streets or public property in Philadelphia) a License To Carry Firearms is required to carry a firearm in any manner on the streets or public property of a “City of the first class” (Philadelphia.)”

More information, multiple sources (Note, there is now a useful website called “Newsfeed Researcher”, that puts on a single page the same story from different sources, so you can cross check them or find an alternative source to a copyrighted story.):

“(A policeman or detective named Adorno) described the suspect as about 5-foot-10 with a full beard and tattoos on both arms. “He had a face on him, like he was up to no good,” he said. The man kept changing his stories, Adorno said. “At first he’s like, ‘What guns?’ “ Then he claimed to have just bought them, and then said he uses them at a shooting range.

“Records show Ponds has a prior weapons arrest for allegedly firing three shots at his ex-girlfriend in September 2011, then severely beating her. The charges were withdrawn after a witness failed to appear.

“(He) had carved and written his initials on both guns, apparently as proof of ownership.”

(A policeman or detective named Adorno) described the suspect as about 5-foot-10 with a full beard and tattoos on both arms. He had a face on him, like he was up to no good, he said. The man kept changing his stories, Adorno said. At first hes like, What guns?  Then he claimed to have just bought them, and then said he uses them at a shooting range.

Records show Ponds has a prior weapons arrest for allegedly firing three shots at his ex-girlfriend in September 2011, then severely beating her. The charges were withdrawn after a witness failed to appear.

(He) had carved and written his initials on both guns, apparently as proof of ownership.

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